A Trio of Sandwiches for Afternoon Tea

This week (14th to 20th August 2017) is Afternoon Tea Week, the annual celebration of one of the nation’s favourite traditions. Whether enjoyed in a 5-star hotel or as a home baked treat, the British love the combination of savoury and sweet treats served at an afternoon tea, accompanied, of course, by some of the 165 million cups of tea drunk each day in the UK.

I’m delighted to share with you that this year, for the first time ever (I must be officially a grown up now?), I have served my afternoon tea in a gorgeous matching handcrafted tea set. I am now the proud new owner of a Spode Blue Italian tea pot and matching tea cups and saucers as well as side plates, a two tier cake stand, a cream jug and wine glasses: everything needed, in my humble opinion, to show off the perfect Afternoon Tea.

The beautiful blue and white Spode Blue Italian collectionwas launched in 1816 and has been in production ever since. Now considered an iconic English design, this stunning collection features a finely detailed 18th century Imari Oriental border encompassing a scene inspired by the Italian countryside. Watch the video below to see how the pottery is made in their factory in Stoke-on-Trent, England.

Did you know that 22 pairs of hands make each piece of Spode Blue Italian? Each item is truly a handcrafted work of art, don’t you think?

For Afternoon Tea Week I thought I’d share three simple sandwich recipes; three of our family favourites: egg and cress, smoked Shetland salmon with cream cheese and a cheese and pickle sandwich. The perfect variety (I think) to go with the traditional scones with jam and cream and a selection of other sweet treats, displayed, perfectly, in my new Spode Blue Italian set.

When it comes to scones, are you a ‘cream on top of the jam’ person or a ‘jam always has to go on top of the cream’ person? AfternoonTea.co.uk recently conducted a large survey to find out.

They found that 58% of people prefer to put the jam before the cream on their scones, with 42% preferring cream first.

The rivalry between Cornwall and Devon over cream teas has been going on for decades. The Cornish way is to serve jam on the bottom, with the Devonians placing the cream on first. You’ll see, to settle any potential disagreements at our Afternoon Tea Party, I did it both ways to please everyone.

Oh, and don’t forget the Prosecco!

Portmeirion Group have very kindly sent me a second Spode Blue Italian two-tier cake stand worth £44 for me to gift to one of my UK readers. To enter, simply fill in the Rafflecopter form below!

What do you like to have served with your Afternoon Tea? Are you a jam on top or cream on top person? Let me know in the comments!

A Trio of Sandwiches for Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea wouldn't be complete without a selection of sandwiches. Here are three easy to make varieties perfect with a cuppa.

Prep Time30mins

Cook Time7mins

Total Time37mins

Servings: 4servings

Author: Elizabeth

Ingredients

for the egg and cress sandwiches

2largefree-range eggshardboiled and cooled

2tbspHellman's mayonnaise

0.5tsppickle juice

1pinchcelery seed

sea saltto taste

freshly ground black pepperto taste

2sliceswhite bread

2slicesbrown bread

butterto spread

for the smoked Shetland salmon with cream cheese and chives sandwiches

100gramscream cheese

1tspfresh chivessnipped

0.25tsplemon zest

100gramssmoked Shetland salmon

2sliceswhite bread

2slices brown bread

for the cheese and pickle sandwiches

100gramsmature cheddar cheese

15gramssmall chunk Branston pickle

2sliceswhite bread

2slicesbrown bread

butterto spread

Instructions

To prepare the egg and cress sandwiches, mash the cooled boiled eggs with a fork until they reach an even consistency. Stir in the mayonnaise, pickle juice and celery seed. Season to taste. Gently fold in the cress.

Butter your bread slices and divide the egg mixture between the two sandwiches. Cut off the crusts and slice the sandwiches into two triangles or three fingers.

To prepare the smoked salmon sandwiches, spread 1/4 of the cream cheese on each of the four slices of bread. Sprinkle the cream cheese on one side of the sandwich with the snipped chives and lemon zest.

Arrange half the smoked Shetland salmon on each sandwich and assemble. Cut off the crusts and slice into triangles or fingers.

For the cheese and pickle sandwiches, finely grate the cheddar cheese and stir in the pickle to bind. Butter each slice of bread, divide the cheese mixture between them and assemble. Cut off the crusts and slice into triangles or fingers.

GIVEAWAY

This giveaway is open to UK entries only. Entrants must be age 18 or over. The winner will need to respond within 30 days of being contacted; failure to do this may result in another winner being selected.

The prize is offered and provided by Portmeirion Group. The prize is to win a Spode Blue Italian 2-tier Cake Stand worth £44. There is no cash alternative and the prize is not transferable.

There is no entry fee and no purchase is necessary to enter this giveaway.

The promoter (Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary) reserves the right to cancel or amend the giveaway and these terms and conditions without notice.

Entry into our giveaways will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.

If you need some help using Rafflecopter, here’s a quick clip to show you how. Rafflecopter will pick the winner at random from all the entries received. I will be verifying entries. Any automated entries or those who have claimed they have made the mandatory blog post comment and really haven’t will be disqualified. It’s mandatory! Please make sure your comment is eight words or longer or Google views it as spam and this negatively affects my spam score. All entries with comments fewer than the mandatory 8 words will be disqualified and deleted.

Closing date is midnight (that’s 00:00 hours, 12 am on Sunday night/Monday morning) on Monday 28 August 2017 (GMT). The winner will be announced afterwards.

Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary was gifted all of the above Spode Blue Italian products. All thoughts and opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to do what I love: mess up my kitchen and share recipe stories.

For me the perfect afternoon tea would be finger sandwiches filled with grated cheese + caremelised onion chutney on granary bread, scones with clotted cream and jam, a selection of delicious cakes, including miniature Victoria Sponges, miniature Devil’s Food Cake, a selection of various cupcakes and some slices of Fruit Cake.

I’d be lying if I said I usually rustle up a quick sandwich or a Kit-Kat for afternoon tea but with a set like this it would just make you try that little bit harder…it’s gorgeous. I especially like the glasses with the same pattern running round them. x

It has got to be traditional. I love other peoples egg and cress sandwiches as I hate making them myself because the eggs are so stinky. For scones, most definitely cream over jam and plenty of both. I love Spode Blue Italian range but sadly my pieces have diminished due to my husband’s breakage record.
Thanks for all the yummy recipes.
Jo

Love Spode Blue Italian, lovely to hear a little more about its making. Your family favourite sandwiches would go down well with us too! I do love an afternoon tea, especially served in gorgeous crockery!

I’m a big fan of a well made cucumber sandwich. Also a good cheese with a sweet chutney or salad. Then it’s all about the cake. I love mini, individual versions of traditionally bigger cakes – carrot, coffee and walnut, Victoria sandwich. All accompanied by a glass of fizz.

A variety of fine sandwiches including smoked salmon, egg mayo and ham salad. Macarons and meringues are a must plus strawberry tart and mink éclairs. The finest tea and china (of course) plus a glass of Fizz. Oh …. and scones with cream and jam

I love little sandwiches with fresh fillings, made for the tea. I love warm scones with fresh clotted cream and jam and chocolate based desserts. A hot chocolate with the tea would not go amiss as well!

Scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, finger sandwiches (which HAVE to include smoked salmon and cream cheese!), a couple of cakes and some savouries, like mini savoury tarts – I always think afternoon teas tend to have too much sweet and not enough savoury!

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